The use of financial cards such as credit cards, charge cards, debits cards, and automated teller machine (ATM) cards is well known. These cards, which are used by consumers everyday, have many features and characteristics which offer flexibility to customers or users. For example, credit cards such as VISA®, MasterCard®, and Discover® credit cards typically offer revolving credit with a predetermined line of credit amount for each cardholder. Further, customers are able to carry a balance forward from billing cycle to billing cycle. The credit card customer will incur interest charges on the balance carried forward and must usually make a minimum payment. So long as a customer is carrying out transactions that together with their current credit card balance is less than their communicated line of credit, those transactions are typically approved. Once the customer's communicated line of credit is exceeded, a customer transaction on that credit card will typically be denied. The customer will generally have to make a payment to the credit card company sufficient to bring the credit card balance below the communicated line of credit or alternatively request a larger line of credit. The same issue will arise later if the line of credit is again exceeded.
Another type of financial card is a charge card such as cards issued by American Express. A charge card allows a customer to make purchases similar to a credit card. Unlike a credit card however, with a charge card, a customer is required to pay off the entire balance of the transactions or charges made on the charge card at the end of each billing cycle. Also, unlike a credit card, a charge card generally does not have a communicated line of credit associated with that card for that customer. A charge card with no preset or variable spending limit associated with the customer or charge card requires approval or authorization for each customer transaction on a transaction-by-transaction basis instead of on the basis of a fixed communicated line of credit amount. The customer spending limit is determined by authorization logic which evaluates the customer's credit at the time of the requested transaction and is typically based on a customer's spending and payment patterns, credit history, place of transaction, amount of transaction, and other parameters. The spending amounts authorized will vary from person to person depending on their particular financial characteristics including, among others, the user's payment and spending patterns and credit history. Further, different financial institutions generally have their own institution specific authorization or approval logic for their charge cards. However, the end result is typically the same, certain authorization logic is used to determine whether a transaction request will be approved or denied.
The different features of financial transaction cards often result in the need for card user to obtain multiple transaction cards to meet their financial needs. Multiple transaction cards can be cumbersome, bulky and hard to keep track of. Thus, there is a need for a novel transaction card that advantageously combines the various features and functions of existing financial cards to more efficiently and conveniently provide for and meet a customers financial needs.